Dump-car.



Pr'J. HARRIGAN.

DUMP m.

APPLICATION FILED 1130.18. 1913.

Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

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P. J. HARBIGAN.

DUMP OAR.

urucnwn FILED 930.18. 1913.

Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

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Witness Jfl/ P. J. HARRIGAN.

DUMP CAR.

APPLIQA'UON FILED DEG.1S, 1913 1,1 14;, 3-50. Patented Oct. 20, 1914.

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PATRICK J, HARRIGAN, or MQKEESPOBT, PENNSYLVm DUMP-can.

Specification 01 Letters Patent.

= Patented a. 20, 1914,

Application filed December 18, 1913. Serial No. 807,467.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, PATRICK J. HAnRIoAN, a citizen of the United States, and residing at McKeesport, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Dump-Cars, of which the following is a specification.

This inventionrelates to certain new and useful improvements in dump cars, and more particularly to those of the hopper bottom type.

The present invention relates more par ticularly to certain radical improvements in the door operating mechanism of such cars, whereby to permit the doors to be opened or disposed the full distance of the length between the trucks of a car and reaching between the wheels close to the axles.

The mannerof suspending or mounting the doors is such that theirlower edges travel in practically a horizontal plane when opening or closing, and thus permits the doors to hang low or close enough to the rails to give track clearance, thus to give the greatest possible internal area for any given a height of car.

The doors, as usual, are angularly disposed, that is to say, occupy a double incline forming a hopper shaped container for the load and the means employed to hang or suspend the door balances the weight thereof and reduces friction to a minimum, rendering it possible to operate very long or heavy doors with comparative case, whether the car be loaded or empty.

The operating means for the doors and the locking mechanism therefore, are directly connected, and are so arranged that the actuating means therefor may be rendered operable to secure a release of the doors and their lateral shifting or swinging by turning the actuating means in either direction, and on either side of a car. By the arrangement employed, the lading tends to open the doors when unlocked or may be aided in opening the doors by the operator giving a slight initial opening movement. he lading while discharging itself from the car exerts a pressure on the doors that operates to hold them opened, and when the car is empty. and the operator releases the means initially employed for opening the doors, the latter will close of themselves, and the locking means employed will automatically come-into action to secure the doors;

against opening while receiving further lading. a I

With the above general of the main features of construction of theinyem tion, the main object will be apparent, which is to provide a dump car having movable doors arranged or supported inane-h manner as to'be readily and easily 0 rated to provide a discharge opening 0 jlargearea, in order to obtain a-rapid dischar e of the material from the car, and efi'ectu'al iy' to prevent the bridging of the material during such discharge, 4 r

A further object is, in a ready and practical manner, to dispense with the employmentof chains, or stationary door suspending means, such as are generally employed in'connection with cars of the'ch'aracter described. Y

-A further object-is to provide a dump car having a'movable door or-doors to forrn'the' bottom thereof, and disposed at-such an le with relation to the car-sides that'ppon t e initial discharge of the lad'ing from the car, the weight'of the lad'ing will be directed against the doqror' doors, thereby to e-fl'ecta rapid full opening of such closure, the door or doors-in their completely open-poshtion being still so disposed that their tendency is automatically to return to a closed position as soon as the Weight of the lading is relieved therefroml p With the above-and other objects in view, as will appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the saine .consists, broadly stated, in a dump car, embodying double inclined doors, swinging supports pivotally connected near the lower ends of the doors, means for maintaining thedoors normally in locked position, means for releasing the doors, means for swinging the doors laterally to open position,-and means for converting the lateral movement into oblique upward movement, whereby the lower endsof the doors are caused to travel in a substantially horizontal plane, the looking mechanism being of such character that upon return of the doors to-closed position, such mechanism will automatically come into play, and will be positively prevented from accidental release, from any jarsor 7 the door locking mechanism.

- means therefor.

operating means for-a car as will be hereinafter fully described and. claimed.

In th'accompanyingiigldr wiagjs formin a part of this specificatioiif,j

nvhic a characters of reference 111' icate corresponding parts: Figure 1 is a viewin end elev'a tion, partly in section, of .;agd1ii np-car constructed in'accordance with'the' 'present invention. Fig, 2 is Q'ViQW -llIfSldG elevation, partlyin section, showing more; iilarly the means for.-suspending-v the bottom por-. trons of the? doors from the side sills of the car, and alsoathe Emeans for releasing Fig. 3 is a "view in eleyation of a modified form of door operating "echanism; Fig, fltis a view similarito Fig-i3, of another-form of door operating mechanism, the doors omitted.-

, of another.

Fig. 5 is ayview similar to Fig modified. form- 9f door suspending or oper' ating mechan-ism Fig. 6 is a perspective detail view displaying, on an enlargedscale, the means for releasing the locking mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, and particul arly toFigs. 1, 2, and 6,1 designates the end sheet of an ordinary metallic dump car, 2 the side sheets, and 3 the hopper sheets, the latter being so arrangedas to constitute door casings to receive the upper ends of the doors 1 and 46, when the latter are opened, as w1ll hereinafiter-' more jully apmar v I vi The essential feature of the present inven *tlOIl resides in a novel arrangement of mechanism for supporting the doors so ,as

to permit the lower ends thereof to have lateral swinging IHOVEHIBDiJlD asubstantially horizontal plane, thus to dispense with grooved or slotted guidesv and rollers, such as are commonly employed or of chains, and further in the 'novelarrangement of the door locking mechanism and releasing As the various mechanisms employed are ,the same at each end of the car, and. co-act in unison, a description of onewill serve for both.

'- latter of which engages a pintle- 14 carried by a plate similar to the plate:13 andrigidly secured to the door 1'- adjacent to lower and I preferably dispose the pmties 12,

14 somewhat above the lower edges of the 'nates short doors, in practi' usuallyyabout' six inches Ye i 1 w gees} This is done .so

that in the lower ed e s hfthe doors during their opening and c osing movements, will travel in a substantially horizontal plane, whereas if the pintles were at the lower edges of the doors, such lower edges would necessarily describe an arc during their opening and closing movements. Though the doors will operateequally well when the links are pivotedto their lower edges, I prefer to eliminate-to as great an extent aspossible, the arc-movement of their lower edges in opening and closing. Loosely mounted upon each of the pintles 12 is alatch- 15 having intermediate of its endsv a seat 16- that isdesigned to engage with the pintle 14:, the-free end of the latch being-provided with a beveled nose 1?, as

most clearly shown 'in Fig. 6. Pivoted to the latch adjacent to its outer end is a safety dog comprising a weighted head 18 that is secured by a pivot 19 to the latch, and termithe nose 1 7, and projects some distance below the under edges of the outer end of the latch. The head carries an upstanding arm 20 that --is normally disposed under an L-shaped keeper 21 rigid with the end of the door 4. As it is designed'that the safety dog shall move through 'a prescribed; arc of a circle, itwill. be understood that the upper end of thearm 20 will terminate sufficiently short of the keeper to'prevent'interference with suchmovemcnt. In order to limit the upward movement of the head 18, it being necessary only that it should move a'suflicient distance to permit the arm 20 to clear the keeper 21, the head is provided with a curved slot 22, that is engaged by a pin 23 carriedby the latch. As will be obvious, by reference to Fig. 6, when thejlatch is in locked engagement vwith the pintle l4,and' the'arm of the safety dog is under,the keeper 21, it will be impossible for the latch to become accidentally released from engagement with the pintle 14 from any jars or vibrations incident to the travel of the'car over the road.

To release the latch from engagement with the pintle, when itis desired to open the doors, a crank shaft 23 is employed, clearly shown in Fig. 2, and which is supported 1n suitable bearings 24- securcd adjacent to the lower edge of the door 4. a At each end of the shaft is a crank 25, and this lies directly under and isnorn'lally .in engagement with the under edge of the head 18 of -the safety dog. Projecting laterally from the crank shaft at a point adjacent toits center is an arm 26, to" the outer end of which is secured one end of a ,chain'-2T-,-.t,he other end of which passes around a sheave 28 mounted in abracket 29 secured-to the side sill 30, the upper cnd'of the chain being secured to a staple or keeper'31 carried by a shaft 32 journaled in the side sills 30, the outer ends oft-he shaft being squared as at 33 to permit the application of a wrench or crank thereto for the purpose of turningthe shaft when necessary. jacent to its lower edge is one end of a second chain 34, the other end of which passes around a sheave 35 mounted in a bracket 36 secured to the side sill 30, the upper end of the chain being secured to a staple or keeper 37 carried by the shaft 32.

As abovestated, it is one of the objects of the invention to permit the lower ends of the doors .to move in substantially a horizontal plane and to effect this result, it is necessary that the upper-"ends of the doors should be caused to move'in an oblique vertical line, to take up what would other-' wise be a curvilinear movement of the lower ends of the doors, and toaccomplish this, the upper ends of the doors project into the casings 38, formed in part by the side sheets 2 and by the hopper sheets 3 and are sup-' ported by rollers'39 journaled upon bearings4O carried by the cross sill 41.

It will be obvious, owing to the fact that he latch is loosely mounted upon the pivot '0, that-in order to insure automatic action -when brought to locking position, some ffieai i'sjmust be provided whereby to prevent its:;.dropping down, and to preclude this, there is a latch rest 42 employed in the naturefofa pin,'which projects from the end of the door 4 and upon which the latch rests, as shown in Fig. 1.

In order to close the space'at the ends of the doors at their ends, thus to prevent the escape of any material with which the car is loaded, V-shaped plates 43. are employed which are firmly secured as by rivets, to angle extensions.44 rigid with the hopper sheets 3, as indicated in; Fig. 1.

Having thus described the parts of the structure shown in Figs. 1, 2,-and 6, the manner. of their operation in releasing the doors will be given. Assuming that the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 1, which is the load-holding position, and it be desired to release the doors, thus to permit the load to be discharged tothe track, a cranko'r wrench is applied to the squared portion at either end of the shaft 32. and upon the latter being turned, the draft w ll be first applied to the'chain 27, the chaln '34 being at this time slack. This will cause the arm 26 to berocked imparting motion to the crank shaft 23. whereupon the cranks 25 will operate to lift the head 18 of the safety dog, by riding against the lower edge thereof, and upon continued movement being imparted to the shaft 32, the crank will cause the arm 20 of the dog to, be moved free from contact with the keeper 21 and upon riding up the nose 17,w1ll lift the latch, and thus release the latter from en- Se'cured to the door 4 adgagement with the pintle 14. By the time this movement has 'been accomplished, the chain 34 will have become taut and the two chains will then operate to move the doors laterally, and permit discharge of the ladmg. As soon as the car is empty, the doorswill automatically close, and the nose of the latch will ride upon the pi'iitle 14.and cause the automatic 'reengagement of its seat with the pintle.

In the structure shown in Fig. 3, two arms 45 are employed, the opposed ends of which are provided with racks that intermesh, and these arms are mounted upon the pintles 46 that support the links 47 which operate in the manner above described, to impart swinging movement of the doors 4 and 4*. Of course, it will be understood, that the actuating mechanism for moving the doors will be the same as that described in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, and as such arrangement will be readily understood, detailed illustration thereof is deemed unnecessary. in this form of the iii vention, the rollers 39 are dispensed with, and in lieu thereof, the upper end of each of the doors has journaled to it, aroller 48 that is designed to travel upon a track 49, which asherein shown is inclined, although it maybe of any other desired contour to secure'the result designed, namely, to impart an upward movement to the doors 4 and 4 as the latter open.

In the arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the upper end of one link 50 has rigidly secured to it an arm 51 carrying a fork 52, and the other link carries a rigid arm 54 which has a pin for engaging the forked end 52 of the arm 51.

In the form of the invention shown in Fig. 5, the door 56 has secured to it a bracket 57 to which is connected at one end of the link 58, the other end of which is pivoted to a bracket 59 secured to the car body. It will be understood that in each of the forms of the invention shown in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, that the means shown as connecting the links is utilized to cause one link to impart a movement to the other, thus to minimize the power necessary to actuate the links.

While the form of locking mechanism here-in shown has been found thoroughly effective in use, it will be understood that the invention is not to be limited thereto, as other arrangements may be adopted and still be within the scope of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. A dump car. having inclined doors, swinging supports for the lower portion of the doors, means for, ai'ntaining t e supports in locked relatio relative to thedoors to cause the latter tores'istwany tendencyto open from a weigh I posed thereon, safety devices cosactingi'w thithe locking mechanisni to prevent th from becoming accidentally unlock'e means for successi-vely releasing the safety devices and the locking mechanism.

2. A'dump calr having doors suspended for swinging movement at their lower ends, means for converting the lateral movement into an upward movement whereby to cause the lower ends of the doors to travel in an approximately horizontal lane, interlocking devices carried by the oors for locking the swinging means against movement when the doors are in load-receiving position, safety means for preventing accidental release of the locking mechanism and means for successively releasing the safety means and the interlocking devlces.

3. A dump car having double inclined doors, swinglng links pivotally-connected with the lower ends of the doors, means for supporting the upper ends of the doors for sliding movement, and means carried by one of the links and interlocking with a part of the other link for locking the doors together.

4. A dump car having double inclined doors, swinging links ivotally-connected with the lower ends of t e doors, means for supporting the upper ends of the doors for slidlng movement, means carried by one of the links and interlocking with a part of the other link for locking the doors together, and a safety device for said locking means to prevent accidental unlocking.

5. A dump car having double inclined doors, swinging links pivotally-connected with the lower erds of the doors, means for supporting the upper ends of the doors for sliding movement, means carried by one of the links and interlockin with a part of the other link for locking tie doorstogether a safety device for said locking means, an means operating to first release the safety device and then the locking mechanism.

6. A dump car having doors suspended for swinging movement at their lower ends, locking mechanism co-acting with the sus pending means to hold the latter against movement when the doors are in load-receiving position, safety means carried by the locking mechanism to prevent accidental re lease of the latter, and means to first release said safety means, and then the locking mechanism.

7. A dump car having doors suspended for swingin movement at their lower ends, locking mec anism co-acting with the suspending means to hold the latter against movement when the doors are in loadreceiving position, a keeper carried by the locking mechanism to prevent accidental release of the latter, and means operating first to release the keeper and then the locking mechanism.

8. A dump car having doors suspended for swinging movement at their lower ends,

a gravity actuated locking latch co-acting with the suspending means to holdthe latter against movement when the .doors are in load-receiving position, a keeper co-acting with the locking mechanism to prevent the accidental release of the latter, and means operating first to release the keeper and then the locking latch.

9. A dump car having doors suspended doors, means for pivotally supporting the, lower ends of the doors to permit swinging movement, means for supporting the upper ends of the doors for upward sliding movement, interlocking elements carried by the doors for holding the lower ends of the doors in locked relation, safety devices for said interlocking elements, and means for successively releasing said safety devices and interlocking elements.

11. A dump car having double inclined doors, swinging links pivotally-connected withthe lower ends of the doors, means for supporting the upper ends of the doors for sliding movement, and gravity-actuated locking means co-acting with the lower ends of the links to retain the same in locked position.

12. A dump car having double inclined doors, swinging links pivotally-connected -with the lower ends of the doors, means for supporting the upper ends of the doors.

for sliding movement, a gravity-actuated latch carried by one of the links and inter-, locking with a part of the other link, and a gravity-actuated safety dog co-acting with the latch to prevent accidental release of the latter.

13. A dump car embodying double 1nclined doors, swinging supports pivotally connected near the lower ends of the doors, means for maintaining the doors normally in locked position, means for releasing the doors, means for swingin the doors laterally to open position, an means for converting the lateral movement into oblique upward movement, whereby the lower ends of the doors'are caused to travel in asubstantially horizontal plane, the locking mechanism being of such character that upon return of the doors to closed ositi on, such mechanism will automatical y come into play and will be positively prevented from accidental release from any ars or vi.- brations imparted to the car in use.

; 14. A dump car having double inclined 130 doors suspendedby mechanism that permits and means for successively releasing said 10 aswinging pivotal movement of the doors safety device and said interlocking devices. at their lower ends, and a Inbvement in an In testimony whereof I aflix my signature approximately horizontal plane, and an upin presence of two witnesses. 5 Ward ebhqne Inm-eme nt at their upper ends, PATRICK H ARRIG in. combination with interlocking devices 00- i acting with the door-suspending mechanism W'itnesses: for locking the doors together, a safety de- SAML. P. ROBBINS, vice coflcting with said interlocking devices, 1 JOSEPH J. HENRY. 

